No. 3 UCLA Prepares for Saturday's Game at Arizona State

TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 3-ranked UCLA will play at Arizona State (Desert Financial Arena) on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT (8 p.m. MT) in a nationally televised contest. The Bruins' game will air on ESPN2, while the radio broadcast will be available in the Los Angeles region on AM 570.
 
UCLA has won the last three meetings against Arizona State, but the Sun Devils had won four consecutive games prior to the Bruins' win streak. Last season, UCLA won its matchup against ASU in Tempe, Ariz., in overtime by an 81-75 margin (Jan. 7, 2021). Cody Riley finished that game with season highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds. The Bruins also won an 80-79 decision over Arizona State in Pauley Pavilion (Feb. 20, 2021).
 
GAME INFORMATION
Venue: Desert Financial Arena
Game Time: 7 p.m. PT (8 p.m. MT)
Television: ESPN2
TV Talent: Dave Pasch (play-by-play), Bill Walton (analyst)
Radio Broadcast (UCLA Sports Network): AM 570
Radio Talent: Josh Lewin (play-by-play), Tracy Murray (analyst)
SIRIUS/XM Radio Channels: Ch. 83 / Ch. 83
SIRIUS Internet Channel: Ch. 83

ABOUT THE BRUINS
- The Bruins have gone 16-3 (and 8-2 in the Pac-12) and are ranked No. 3 in the AP poll (No. 4 in the Coaches' Poll).
- UCLA has gone 5-1 in true road games and 10-1 at home (the Bruins are 1-1 in a pair of neutral site contests).
- UCLA has won 16 of their first 19 games for the first time since 2016-17 (when they opened 19-1, through 20 games).
- The Bruins have gone 8-1 since returning from a COVID pause that took place in late December of 2021.
- The Bruins rank No. 2 in the Pac-12 in margin of victory (12.8 ppg) and points per game (77.4 ppg).
- UCLA's loss at Arizona on Thursday night snapped a six-game winning streak against the Wildcats.
- UCLA's Tyger Campbell ranks No. 1 in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (3.74-to-1), through Thursday, Feb. 3.
- UCLA ranks in the top 10, nationally, in fewest turnovers per game (No. 7, at 9.5) and turnover margin (No. 9, at 4.8).
• Head coach Mick Cronin has gone 57-25 at UCLA (currently in his third season as UCLA's head coach).
• Eleven of UCLA's 15 players were either born-and-raised in Southern California or attended high school in the area.
• The Bruins went 5-1 in the 2021 NCAA Tournament, earning the program's 19th all-time appearance in the Final Four.
 
WESTWOOD, UCLA'S DOCUSERIES
The Bruins' season-long docuseries – titled "Westwood" – airs on the UCLA Athletics YouTube channel and the UCLA men's basketball program's social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook). Episodes run just under 10 minutes in length and are broadcast on social media approximately every two weeks.
 
Episode 1 (aired Monday, Nov. 8) – watch
Episode 2 (aired Monday, Nov. 22) – watch
Episode 3 (aired Monday, Dec. 6) – watch
Episode 4 (aired Monday, Dec. 20) – watch
Episode 5 (aired Monday, Jan. 10) – watch
Episode 6 (aired Monday, Jan. 24) – watch
 
MOST RECENTLY
After securing three home victories in a five-day span last week, UCLA dropped a 76-66 decision at No. 7-ranked Arizona on Thursday, Feb. 3. Arizona led the Bruins by a 42-30 margin at halftime. UCLA reduced the Wildcats' cushion to as few as three points (64-61, at 3:52) in the second half. Arizona used a 12-3 scoring run to secure a 12-point lead in the game's final minute, snapping the Wildcats' six-game losing streak in the series versus UCLA. Jules Bernard scored a team-leading 15 points for UCLA, while Cody Riley finished with 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds at the McKale Center.
 
LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD
Following this Saturday's game at Arizona State, the Bruins will be back in action next week at Stanford (Tuesday, Feb. 8) and at USC (Saturday, Feb. 12). Next Tuesday's game at Stanford was rescheduled (from Jan. 6) after the Cardinal was forced to pause team activities (due to COVID-19 in early January). The Bruins have not played at Stanford since head coach Mick Cronin was hired as UCLA's head coach (UCLA's game at Stanford last season took place in Santa Cruz, Calif., at the Golden State Warriors' G-League facility). The Bruins defeated Stanford last week in Los Angeles by a 66-43 margin.
 
UCLA's KEY SCORERS
Four Bruins have averaged at least 10 points per game. Johnny Juzang (17.7 ppg) leads the group and currently ranks second among all scorers in the Pac-12 (behind Washington's Terrell Brown Jr., averaging 21.6 ppg). Veteran guards Jules Bernard (senior, 13.3 ppg), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (junior, 12.3 ppg) and Tyger Campbell, (junior, 11.0 ppg) have helped shoulder the scoring load for UCLA this season. Juzang, Bernard, Jaquez Jr. and Campbell all averaged at least 10 points per game in 2020-21. In addition, senior Cody Riley has averaged 8.5 points per game, having returned from an injury in early January.
 
ASSIST-TURNOVER STATS
Through Thursday's games, UCLA ranked No. 12 in the nation in assist-turnover ratio (1.49). Since the start of UCLA's NCAA Tournament run last season (in total, UCLA's last 25 games), Campbell has totaled 113 assists and 30 turnovers (compiling an assist-turnover ratio of 3.77-to-1). Other notable assist-turnover ratios on the Bruins' team include senior guards Jules Bernard (37 assists, 21 turnovers, 1.8 ratio) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (40 assists, 25 turnovers, 1.6 ratio).
 
QUITE THE TURNAROUND
Senior Jules Bernard has totaled 88 assists and 60 turnovers over the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons (junior/senior years), an assist-turnover ratio of 1.47. During his first two seasons at UCLA (2018-19 and 2019-20), Bernard had totaled 47 assists and 84 turnovers through 63 games. In addition, Bernard averaged 6.6 points per game during his first two seasons and has averaged 11.4 points during his junior and senior campaigns.
 
AWAY FROM HOME
The Bruins have gone 7-2 in nine games played away from home this year (that includes a 5-1 road record). Earlier this season, UCLA registered non-conference road wins at UNLV (Saturday, Nov. 27) and at Marquette (Saturday, Dec. 11). Prior to UCLA's loss at No. 7-ranked Arizona (Thursday, Feb. 3), the Bruins had registered five consecutive road victories for the first time since a six-game road winning streak during the 2007-08 season. Now in his third season as UCLA's head coach, Mick Cronin has guided the Bruins to a 23-19 record in games played away from home (road and neutral site contests).
 
NOTABLES
- Senior Jules Bernard has scored 999 career points, standing just one point shy of the 1,000-career-point plateau.
- The Bruins have gone 5-1 on the road (1-1 in neutral-site contests), including a 3-1 record in Pac-12 road games.
- UCLA ranks No. 1 in the Pac-12 (No. 7 in the nation) in fewest turnovers committed per game (9.5, through Feb. 3).
- Myles Johnson (29 blocks, 1.5 bpg) ranks No. 5 in the Pac-12 in most blocks per game (through Thursday, Feb. 3).
- Junior Johnny Juzang has scored in double figures in 16 of 17 games (including a season-high 28 points at Utah).
- Junior Tyger Campbell (414 assists) stands just 44 assists shy from moving into the school's career top-10 assists list.
- Tyger Campbell (1.3) and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (1.3) rank No. 6 and 7, respectively, in the Pac-12 in steals per game.
- In the past five games, UCLA limited the opposition to a 39.3 shooting percentage (and 28.3% from 3-point range).
 
BRUINS' DEFENSE
In UCLA's 66-43 win over Stanford last Saturday night, the Bruins held each of Stanford's players to fewer than nine points (Isa Silva led the visiting Cardinal with eight points). That marked UCLA's first Pac-12 game since a 71-53 win over Arizona State on Feb. 24, 2011, in which the Bruins held all of the other team's players to fewer than 10 points.
 
KEY FACILITATOR
Through games played on Thursday, Feb. 3, Tyger Campbell ranked No. 1 in the country in assist-turnover ratio (3.74-to-1). Campbell has averaged 11.0 points and 4.5 assists in all 19 games this season. He has shot 42.5% from the field and currently ranks No. 7 in the Pac-12 in 3-point percentage (shooting a career-best 41.1%). Campbell has scored at least 10 points in 13 of the Bruins' 19 games. He has started all 82 games for UCLA since the start of the 2019-20 season.
 
UCLA IN PAC-12 ACTION
Since the start of the 2020-21 season, UCLA has gone 21-8 in Pac-12 play (that includes last season's 13-6 record). The Bruins have won 20 of their last 22 home games in Pac-12 play (losses to USC in March of 2021 and Oregon on Jan. 13, 2022). UCLA won its final seven home Pac-12 games in 2019-20, during Coach Cronin's first season as the team's head coach. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, the Bruins have gone 34-6 in all games played in Pauley Pavilion.
 
GO-TO PLAYER
Junior guard/forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. has been a catalyst since arriving in Westwood in the summer of 2019. He has played in 80 of the team's last 81 games (72 starts). He secured second-team All-Pac-12 honors last season. This year, he has averaged 12.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game (17 contests). Last year, Jaquez Jr. was one of five players to have earned Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors. Jaquez Jr. has scored in double figures in 46 career games.
 
VETERAN PRESENCE
Senior guard Jules Bernard has played in more games at UCLA (114) than any other current player. He has averaged 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game this season. The former standout at nearby Windward High School (Los Angeles) has scored 999 career points, needing just one more to become the 58th UCLA player to have scored at least 1,000 career points in a Bruins' uniform. Nearly one month ago against Long Beach State (Jan. 6), he totaled 22 points and made four 3-pointers (seven attempts) in the team's 96-78 win.
 
UCLA's LEADING SCORER
Johnny Juzang has averaged a team-best 17.7 points per game and ranks No. 2 in the Pac-12 in scoring. Last season, he averaged a team-leading 16.0 points in 27 contests and was one of five players to earn All-NCAA Tournament Team acclaim (averaged 22.8 points in six NCAA Tournament games). He shot 50.9 percent in last season's NCAA Tournament.
 
20-POINT TOTALS: Johnny Juzang scored at least 20 points in four consecutive games in January. During his two seasons at UCLA, he has scored at least 20 points in 14 games (six times this season, eight games last year). In addition, Juzang has averaged 4.9 rebounds per game this season, totaling at least seven rebounds in four contests.
 
30-POINT CLUB: Johnny Juzang scored a career-high 32 points in UCLA's 64-61 win at Washington last season (Feb. 13, 2021). That marked the most points in one game by any UCLA player since Kris Wilkes had 34 points versus Arizona on Jan. 26, 2019 (in Pauley Pavilion).
 
CLOSING TIME
Under third-year head coach Mick Cronin, the Bruins have gone 21-8 in games decided by five points or fewer (includes all overtime games, regardless of score margin). This season, the Bruins have posted a 2-1 record in such situations. In 2019-20, the Bruins went 7-3 in those contests. In 2020-21, UCLA had a 12-4 record. Through Coach Cronin's final three seasons at Cincinnati (2016-17 through 2018-19), his teams went 18-7 in those situations. From 2016-17 through the 2020-21 season, Coach Cronin's teams went 37-14 in such contests.
 
70 POINTS OR FEWER
Over the past two seasons (2020-21 and 2021-22), UCLA has gone 28-3 when limiting the opposition to 70 or fewer points (15-3 last season, 11-0 record this year). Midway through his third season at UCLA, Coach Cronin has led the Bruins to a 46-4 record when limiting the opposition to 70 or fewer points. In 2019-20, UCLA went 18-1 in such situations. Through his final three seasons as Cincinnati's head coach (2016-17 through 2018-19), Coach Cronin's teams posted a 79-10 record when holding the opposition to 70 or fewer points. Since the start of the 2016-17 season, his teams have gone 122-14 when limiting the opponent to 70 or fewer points (through 186 games).
 
65 POINTS, OR FEWER: Through three seasons as UCLA's head coach (2019-20 through 2021-22), Coach Cronin has guided the Bruins to a 41-2 record when UCLA has held its opposition to 65 points or fewer. UCLA has gone 11-0 this season (allowing 65 or fewer points), went 15-1 last season, and went 16-1 in 2019-20.
 
FORCING TURNOVERS: Midway through his third year at UCLA, Coach Cronin has guided the Bruins to a 23-3 record when UCLA has forced at least 15 turnovers by the opposition (includes an 8-1 mark in that category this season).